Bright Beaches of Nanoscale Potassium Islands on Graphite in STM Imaging

Feng Yin, J Akola, P Koskinen, M Manninen, Richard Palmer

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We demonstrate, via scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) measurements performed at 48 K, the existence of "bright beaches" at the edges of K islands (diameter similar to 5-500 nm) on the graphite surface. The enhanced tunneling current is only observed in monolayer-high islands on graphite, and not in islands of similar geometry on top of a K monolayer film. First-principles density functional calculations and STM simulations suggest that this is an STM field effect, which appears as the positive tip attracts donated electrons back to the metallic K islands. The restored charge accumulates preferentially at the island edges.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)106102
Number of pages1
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume102
Issue number10
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2009

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